Myrtle rust has now been identified in five locations in New Zealand. It was first identified on Raul Island in the Kermadec Island group on the 17th of March, 2017. The islands are under the New Zealand flag and Raul Island is a DOC-run wildlife sanctuary, 10,000 km north of Cape Reinga. The infection spread fairly quickly to mainland New Zealand and there are now (27th November) nearly 200 individual properties that have identified infections.

We were recently asked to be part of a research project for Auckland Botanical Gardens (ABG), who are working on a positive biological control agent for Kauri dieback Phytophthora agathidicida. Kauri dieback is host-specific to NZ Kauri trees. It kills everything from seedlings to giant trees and spreads through soil moisture and soil movement.